It really was her... Charlotte breathed an inward sigh of relief, then lifted the hem of her house dress and curtsied to the lady who had emerged from either the mirror or the shadows.
"Madam Henriette, without your help, I probably wouldn't have had the chance to come home today."
The elusive Beyonder wore an aqua-blue coat and long skirt, looking like a lady just returned from the hunting grounds. Charlotte's solemn thanks actually seemed to make her uncomfortable. She adjusted the lace at her cuffs and waved a hand.
"I came at your cousin's request in the first place. Things aren't entirely over yet, so of course I have to ensure your safety."
As she spoke, she went straight to the dressing mirror, just as she had on her previous visit, claimed the cushioned round stool, and continued:
"Church people have often been watching you in secret lately, so I didn't rashly reveal myself. Only during today's hunt did those Beyonders have enough other things to worry about for me to get a chance to follow along. I didn't expect to run straight into that Mystery Pryer who had lost control."
So the Church really is still watching me. I just don't know whether it's for my safety or because they don't quite trust me... And the official Beyonders aren't the only ones lurking nearby. There's Henri, too. She must know I've taken a potion, and which pathway it belongs to... Remembering all her experiments in her bedroom and on the balcony over the past few days, Charlotte's expression stiffened. She hurriedly asked:
"So you saw the entire fight?"
"Most of it. I saw you and that young man named Roselle enter the woods one after the other, and I was going to find a chance to speak with you. But I spent a little time checking what the other guests slipping into the woods were up to. By the time the gunshots rang out and I reached the stream, the fight had already begun..."
Henri answered with a faint smile. Evidently, the other noble couples' activities had been quite an eye-opener for her, too.
"To avoid attracting suspicion from the official Beyonders afterward, I could only use invisible threads to turn that Mystery Pryer's head aside and spare you a fatal injury. Of course, your combat instincts and reactions were quite good, too. Being able to identify the source of its abilities in that situation, then seize an opening to close in and strike back, was already far better than I'd expected."
A flicker of irrepressible delight rose in Charlotte's heart at the praise, but she quickly reined in her emotions and said:
"I was just lucky this time. Without your help and Roselle's, and without the Purification-ers team's timely support, neither of us could have left that stream alive."
She paused briefly, then continued in a serious tone:
"So I'd like to know how to improve my strength as quickly as possible."
Henriette seemed to have anticipated the question. She lifted her right foot onto her left knee, as relaxed as if this were her own room, and considered for a moment before answering:
"The most direct way is, of course, to advance to the next sequence. Even if sequence 8 doesn't necessarily give you powerful Beyonder abilities, every advancement strengthens the abilities of your previous sequences, along with your physique and spirituality. But you can't rush this, especially when you've only just taken your potion and haven't truly mastered even your sequence 9 powers."
"Truly mastered? To what extent?"
Charlotte immediately pressed her.
"Only you can judge that," Henri said, her tone somewhat elusive. "You should think about what sort of behavior would make you more like a true Arbiter, instead of simply treating it as a Beyonder ability granted by a potion."
Charlotte looked at her thoughtfully.
This sounded like some trick Viève had never explicitly mentioned and the Church hadn't taught her, perhaps the key to safely mastering a potion's power. But Henriette clearly had no intention of giving her the answer outright.
Does she want to see whether I can work it out myself, to judge whether I'm worth continuing to help? Or is some contract or oath keeping her from saying it plainly? Why do these Beyonders all love leaving things half-said...? She grumbled silently, then nodded earnestly to show she had taken it to heart.
Henri gave her a satisfied look and continued:
"Another way is to improve your fighting strength through other items and weapons. They often possess powers similar to Beyonder abilities and can compensate for your pathway's shortcomings. Churches generally call such things Sealed Artifacts, while some Beyonders call them 'Mystical Items.'
"But those powers usually come with negative effects. Some require special storage methods, while others affect their users as well. They're also scarce and expensive, and their owners won't readily offer them for trade."
Sealed Artifacts can be used directly as weapons... Charlotte immediately thought of the dagger that had mutated after killing Etienne, and the Holy Bible Viève had used to check whether she was lying. She said regretfully:
"It's a shame I handed that dagger over to the Church. I wonder what special abilities it might have."
"Sealed Artifacts formed naturally are often connected to the sequence of the Beyonder they came into contact with. That dagger probably wouldn't have very powerful abilities. It might not be controllable, or suit your fighting style," Henriette answered thoughtfully. "High-quality Mystical Items with minor side effects are often made by Beyonder Artisans. A step below those are weapons they mass-produce using materials with Beyonder properties. Their powers don't last very long, but they have no obvious side effects."
At this point, she gave a slightly meaningful smile:
"The Church of the God of Artisan has always held quite an advantage in this respect, because they really do have plenty of Artisans."
Charlotte immediately understood that the "Artisans" she meant weren't skilled workers in the ordinary sense, but Beyonders of a particular potion pathway.
So other Churches can only collect or confiscate Sealed Artifacts and Mystical Items without serious side effects, while the Church of the Artisan can customize and mass-produce equipment themselves? Charlotte suddenly felt that if Roselle really joined the Machinery Hivemind, it might not be entirely a bad thing.
She gathered her thoughts and followed up on their earlier conversation:
"What about you? Which pathway do you belong to?"
Henriette didn't answer immediately. Her fingertips tapped lightly against the skirt stretched over her raised knee, as though she were deciding whether to divulge that information.
After a moment, she said slowly:
"I'm an Assassin. Of course, at higher sequences, some people call us 'Demonesses.'"
Assassin... Wasn't that one of the Beyonder pathways Viève offered me? But she said women choosing Assassin would incur the hostility of some secret organization. Is Henri confident she can evade their pursuit, or... is she a member herself?
Charlotte's thoughts raced, and several possibilities occurred to her at once. She showed none of her suspicions, however, and merely asked quite naturally:
"So Assassins can turn invisible at the mid-sequences, and use those invisible threads?"
"That's right. Some abilities are advancements of those from the low sequences. For example, at sequence 9, Assassins can conceal themselves in shadows, making them difficult to detect. At sequence 7, that becomes true invisibility. There are also divination and anti-divination, curses, Mirror Substitution, and some special abilities that aren't meant for combat... You needn't be too envious. Every pathway has its own characteristics and advantages."
But I really am envious. Invisibility, curses, invisible threads, and Mirror Substitution all sound so much stronger than an Arbiter who scares dogs with her presence and fights at close quarters... Could Mirror Substitution explain the sound of breaking glass I heard while fighting that Beyonder who'd lost control...? The more Charlotte heard, the more tempted she became. But remembering Viève's warning about "female Assassins," she could only sigh inwardly. Then a question that had troubled her for a long time came to mind.
"Madam Henriette, since you're skilled at curses and divination, can you tell whether all the misfortunes our family has suffered over the years were caused by a curse?"
Henri was clearly somewhat surprised by the question. She remained silent for a long time, only speaking when Charlotte began to frown.
"I haven't noticed any problems while observing your family lately. At least, there are no such traces on you, and nothing in this mansion feels dangerous to me.
"Besides, the Sauron Main Family has no shortage of high-sequence Beyonders. Although they don't care much about the safety of branch families, they aren't the sort to remain indifferent when someone tramples on them, either. If anyone were secretly trying to harm you through curses, they should notice."
The same thing Father said... Charlotte's heart sank.
"Of course, my divination isn't all-powerful," Henriette continued to explain. "There are many methods of anti-divination. The most direct is suppression through sequence rank. In most cases, only beings at the same level can discover a Saint's whereabouts."
A Saint-in other words, a high-sequence Beyonder... For a moment, Charlotte didn't know whether to be relieved that Henri had found nothing wrong or to worry about that far more terrifying possibility.
Of course, neither the higher beings of the Sauron Family nor the Archbishop in Trier had discovered anything unusual about her family. She knew worrying now would accomplish nothing, so she changed the subject and asked:
"Will you be staying in Sushit?"
Henriette chuckled softly.
"Don't keep counting on my help from the shadows. That sort of thinking will get you killed sooner or later."
Actually, I just wanted to chat with you like this more often, and get some information while I was at it... But she didn't deny it outright, which means she won't be leaving anytime soon... Charlotte nodded to show she understood.
Rather than continuing to lecture her, Henriette changed the subject:
"However, while wandering around the city lately, I discovered an Underground Trading Fair. It meets irregularly and changes locations, but interesting materials, charms, weapons, or information turn up occasionally. If you're interested, you could take a look."
"An Underground Trading Fair?"
Charlotte immediately remembered the warnings in Viève's booklet about wild Beyonders, materials of unknown origin, and dangerous rituals.
"Remember to notify the Church," Henriette reminded her. "I suspect the Purification-ers and the Machinery Hivemind discovered them long ago, but simply haven't intervened."
With that, she took a slip of paper from her pocket and handed it to Charlotte. Charlotte accepted it and glanced down. An address in the Harbor District and a time were written on it: eight o'clock next Thursday evening.
I could take a look if I get the chance. Viève also hinted that I'd probably have to obtain my later potions myself, and I could use monitoring a gathering of wild Beyonders as my pretext... Thinking it over, she carefully put the slip away, then raised her head and said:
"Thank you..."
There was no one in front of her anymore.
Those entrances and exits are just too magical. If I'd known, I really should have chosen Assassin... Charlotte grumbled inwardly. The heaviness left in her heart by the fate of that Beyonder who'd lost control finally eased considerably.
A four-wheeled carriage bearing Baron Sauron's family crest slowly drew to a stop before a grayish-white building beside the Sushit City High Court.
With her maid's help, Charlotte stepped out of the carriage and looked up at the entrance framed by columns and a vaulted roof.
A moment later, she passed through the half-closed main door into the entrance hall, searched the public corridor for her destination, and knocked on an old wooden door that looked decades old.
"Excuse me, is the lawyer Morvan Durand here?"